Nike to cut 2% of global workforce amid restructuring

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - American athletic footwear and apparel corporation Nike will cut 2% of its global workforce amid a corporate restructuring plan.

"We are not currently performing at our best, and I ultimately hold myself and my leadership team accountable," CEO John Donahoe said Thursday in a memo to the employees. "This is how we will reignite our growth."

The layoff is expected to affect around 1,500 to 1,600 employees.

The Oregon-based company said the job cuts will have two phases – the first round beginning this week, and the second by the end of May.

Nike in December announced a plan to lower costs by around $2 billion over the next three years due to expectations of lower sales.

Dozens of companies in the US, mostly in the technology sector, have been cutting jobs since the final quarter of last year as they struggle with lower income and falling advertisement revenue.

Cisco, Instacart, Snap, DocuSign, Uber, Reddit, Disney, 3M, Amazon, Yahoo, Affirm, Zoom, Dell, IBM, Microsoft, Salesforce, PayPal, and Google's parent company, Alphabet, have laid off workers by the thousands since the last quarter of 2023.